Privacy Statement

Last Updated: 14 May 2025

The Medical Journal of the Discipline for Research and Development of the Clinical Center, University of Sarajevo (“MED JOURNAL,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is committed to safeguarding the privacy of individuals who visit our website and interact with our journal, including authors, reviewers, editors, readers, and other stakeholders. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal data.

By using our website or submitting personal data through our platform, you agree to the practices outlined in this Privacy Policy.

1. Data Controller

The data controller responsible for your personal data is:

Discipline for Research and Development
Clinical Center, University of Sarajevo
Bolnička 25, 71000 Sarajevo
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Email: adem.nuhovic@kcus.ba

2. Information We Collect

We collect only the personal data necessary for the operation and integrity of our journal. The types of information we collect include:

a. Information You Provide Directly

Manuscript submissions: Full name, institutional affiliation, email address, ORCID iD, telephone number, country of residence.
Peer reviewers: Name, academic qualifications, contact details, areas of expertise.
Editorial board members and editors: Professional and contact details.
Author declarations: Conflict of interest disclosures, funding details, ethics statements.
Correspondence: Any personal information voluntarily provided via email or contact forms.

b. Automatically Collected Information

When you visit our website, we may automatically collect:

IP address
Browser type and version
Operating system
Referring URLs
Date and time of access
Pages visited and interaction data (anonymous analytics)

We use this information to improve our website’s functionality, performance, and security.

3. Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal data based on one or more of the following legal grounds:

Consent: Provided when submitting a manuscript or using our services.
Contractual necessity: To perform our obligations to authors, reviewers, and editorial board members.
Legal obligation: To comply with national and international publishing, copyright, and ethical standards.
Legitimate interest: To ensure academic integrity, maintain the quality of the peer-review process, and manage the journal efficiently.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To manage the editorial and peer-review process.
To communicate with authors, reviewers, and editors.
To publish author information alongside accepted articles.
To ensure the quality, transparency, and ethical compliance of scientific publication.
To process open access submissions and ensure licensing rights.
To comply with applicable legal obligations and academic publishing standards.
To maintain the security and integrity of our website.
To produce anonymous statistical reports for editorial improvement.

5. Sharing and Disclosure of Information

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data.

We may share your information in the following circumstances:

With editorial board members and peer reviewers, to facilitate the review process.
With indexing and abstracting databases (e.g., DOAJ, Crossref, PubMed Central) for article metadata dissemination.
With platform providers such as Open Journal Systems (OJS), used to manage submissions and publish content.
With legal authorities, when required by law or for protection against legal claims.
With research ethics oversight bodies, where appropriate for integrity reviews.

6. Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored on secure servers located within the European Economic Area (EEA) and/or Bosnia and Herzegovina. We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to:

Prevent unauthorized access, disclosure, or modification.
Protect against accidental loss, destruction, or damage.
Maintain the integrity and confidentiality of all collected data.

Access to personal data is restricted to authorized personnel involved in the editorial process.

7. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, or as required by academic, legal, and ethical archiving standards.

Published articles and author details: Retained permanently for academic record-keeping.
Reviewer data: Retained for 5 years after last activity.
Submission-related correspondence and editorial records: Retained for 10 years from date of final decision.

You may request deletion of certain data, subject to exceptions required for legal compliance and scholarly record preservation.

8. Your Rights Under GDPR

You have the following rights with respect to your personal data:

Right of access – You may request a copy of your data.
Right to rectification – You may correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure – You may request deletion of data, subject to academic archiving policies.
Right to restrict processing – You may request limited use of your data under certain conditions.
Right to object – You may object to data processing based on legitimate interests.
Right to data portability – You may request your data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to withdraw consent – At any time, where processing is based on consent.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at: medjournal@kcus.ba

9. Third-Party Services

We may use third-party services (such as web hosting, analytics, and anti-plagiarism tools) that process personal data under contractual agreements with us. These services are selected based on their compliance with data protection standards.

10. Cookies Policy

Our website uses cookies to enhance user experience and track analytics. Cookies are small text files stored on your device. By using our website, you consent to our use of cookies.

You may control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Please note that some features of our site may not function properly without cookies.

11. Links to Other Websites

Our website may contain links to external websites. We are not responsible for the content, privacy practices, or security of such websites. Users should review the privacy policies of any third-party sites they visit.

12. Children's Privacy

Our website and journal are intended for academic and professional audiences. We do not knowingly collect or store personal data of individuals under 16 years of age.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect legal, technical, or editorial changes. The latest version will always be available on our website. We encourage users to review it periodically.

14. Contact Us

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact:

MED JOURNAL Editorial Office
Discipline for Research and Development
Clinical Center, University of Sarajevo
Bolnička 25, 71000 Sarajevo
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Email: adem.nuhovic@kcus.ba